Picking up the Gauntlet

Brian’s a great bloke and a good thinker. He fights the heresy of hyperpreterism, but I reckon he’s thrown the baby out with the bathwater. And how could I refuse such a challenge! Who can resist a list?

It might take a month to get through them, but I believe it might be helpful for those who are new to these ideas (like you wonderful people who click through from Matt’s blog). It will also provide a window on many Old Testament idioms used in the New, as well as a Bible-based buffer against hyperpreterism (which denies a future resurrection). On top of all that, it will be great fun, and I hope readers will feel welcome to comment.

50FPDZ

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4 Responses to “Picking up the Gauntlet”

My experience of full preterists is that, for the most part, and as far as I can tell, they are sincere believers trying to understand the scriptures like all other believers. It is clear that you are opposed to full preterism, but do you consider it to be “damnable heresy”? If you do, I wonder why you joined Sovereign Grace Preterism, and posted stuff there in a friendly tone and as if the folks there were on the same “team” as you. Are full preterists our enemies? Should we “fight” their “heresy”, or merely oppose their incorrect teaching as brothers, as we would, say, with Baptists?

I have far more in common with hyperpreterists than with dispensationalists, and I don’t doubt that anyone on any side in this debate is sincere. I don’t think hyperpreterism is a ‘damnable heresy’ at all, just a destructive one. So is dispensationalism. Both minimise our hope, but for different reasons.

It’s not about teams. I joined SGP initially to answer some criticism by Mike. I do think the hyperpreterists are correct when it comes to a resurrection in AD70 (we may differ on the details.) The imminent passages are just that. But when it comes to the future, we couldn’t be further apart.

I made it clear to Mike at SGP that I don’t get involved in the personal stuff. It is all about ideas and debate is wonderful if it avoids ridicule and personal attacks.

I believe Brian has been mistaken in rejecting preterism altogether, but I respect his views and the resource he has created. I think his questions are valid ones and I hope to deal with them from the framework presented in Totus Christus, which I believe shows without a shadow of a doubt that a postmillennial preterism is the inescapable outcome of the structure of the Old Testament.

Thanks for your advice, Sam. Brian’s questions are good ones and great points to jump from. Not being a pastor, for me it’s all about the ideas. I don’t have to deal with the fallout. Others do, which is why things get heated.

About me

Mike Bull is a graphic designer who lives and works in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, Australia. His passion is understanding and teaching the Bible, and he writes occasionally for Theopolis Institute in Birmingham AL, USA.